Anavex Life Sciences Corp (AVXL)

[Steady_T]

They are correlations for sure. However I don't understand your comment about low/useless p values.

They show p <.01 and p<.04 (slide 15) Those are not overwhelming numbers but they meet the usual standards for significance.

Interesting to note that the increase in Bacteroides is shown on the chart (slide 12) as being associated with AD. On the chart (slide 15) they show an increase in Bacteroides as being correlated with improved scores. They do call out a specific family of Bacteroides on slide 15 (Porphyromonadaceae) which is not mentioned anywhere else other than the conclusions.

So I find that bit of data confusing.

In understanding this data it is important to understand that the units used are OTU. Operational Taxonomic Units. These are not the relative numbers of bacteria i.e. the total population of a given type. The OTU is a measure of different types of bacteria. Think of it as a measure of diversity of bacteria types.

The quote below is from the paper that the chart on slide 8 comes from. IT suggests the consequences of the shift in bacteria types.

Predictive metagenomics analysis (PICRUSt18) identified potential functional changes in the gut microbiome of AD participants. These include increases in predicted gene content in KEGG pathways related to metabolism and biosynthesis, including oxidative phosphorylation, carbohydrate metabolism, and amino acid metabolism (Supplementary Fig. S5), and decreases in predicted gene content in KEGG pathways related to signal transduction and cell motility, including bacterial chemotaxis pathways, secretion systems, bacterial motility proteins, and two-component signal transduction systems.

The paper further finds the correlation between bacterial types shifts and AD pathology as AD pathology increased.

We discovered that the gut microbiome of AD participants has decreased microbial richness and diversity and a distinct composition compared to asymptomatic age- and sex-matched Control participants. We also identified several broad taxonomic differences between AD and Control groups, and determined that levels of differentially abundant genera correlate with CSF biomarkers of AD pathology.

The link below is for the AD microbiome study referenced in the Anavex presentation. It is well worth reading.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-13601-y#Fig1